Thursday, February 26, 2015

Century Home Design - Cold Call

Today I got a cold call from someone who said he was from "Century Home Design."

I've repeatedly asked to be removed from these "home remodeling contractors" who cold call looking for business but they ignore my requests.

Some go so far to say they are very busy with work but have an opening... yeah, so that is why you can hear others in the call center talking!  If they were so busy, they would be working and getting jobs from referrals.  Good contractors in my neighborhood are ALWAYS busy.. 

You should NEVER buy ANYTHING over the phone from people who cold call.

If you are interested in their products, tell them you would like a quote but ONLY AFTER they provide the following:
  1. A list with the name, address and perhaps phone number of THREE people in your neighborhood who will vouch for their work.
  2. VISIT those people in person and inspect the work to make sure they are not paid shills, perhaps family members who share the deposit they take for the job before vanishing.
  3. Check their record with the Better Business Bureau. My father got scammed by a roofer.  The same roofer wanted to do my house and didn't know my father had a complaint with the BBB until I asked the guy for references.  He only gave one reference of a happy customer, but the customer was so recent there was not a rain storm to see if the roof leaked.  My father's roof leaked... it did so much damage they had to redo a bathroom.
  4.  Look up the company on the internet.  See their Yelp, Angie's list, etc. ratings. 
If you get a cold call and are unsure,  post the details (name, contact phone number, etc.) in the comments section and we'll take a look to help.